I am pretty excited about this one: I made a skirt for only $2. I found a quilt cover for $4 a few weeks back. One side was small stripes, while the other was wider. I used one side to make a swishy, stripey, summer skirt. I used a zipper, interface and pattern that I already had, so I’m not counting those costs. However, even if you did, you would still have a skirt for maybe $30. Compare that to pieces with fabric by the metre, which it $100. So good!
Pattern matching is hard, people.
I will begin by saying that I am quite proud of the amount of pattern matching I achieved with very limited fabric. All the seams that are in your eye-line match. However, I struggle a bit with the waistband, especially on the side joins. The front two seams are also slightly off kilter, but no enough that you’d notice. The fact that the stripes are small certainly helps me here. If I’d used the other side of the quilt cover, you would absolutely be able to see the misalignment.
Having only half a quilt cover does limit your ability to ensure everything lines up. You just don’t have the real estate for it. That said, I’m still very new at this. I think next time I would sacrifice aligning the the fabric grain to ensure a better pattern match. That’s not something you should do often, but for a skirt that doesn’t need to fit the form exactly, I think being off grain but on pattern would work.
Incidentally, I initially wanted the stripes to run vertically, as that’s a more slimming effect. But, that grainline, ya’ll. Maybe next time I’ll throw grainline to the winds and see how that ends for me…
No time for a toile at only $2
I know, I sang the praises of making a muslin/toile only a few posts ago. But that get’s pricey! And given my sheet was only $4, I figured I’d take the risk. I did end up adjusting the waistband a lot, and I did the zipper not once, not twice but three times. However, I’m still happy with the fit. I’ll still stick to toiles for more complex pieces, or where I’m about to cut into expensive fabrics. But for my sheet clothing, I’m happy to wing it a bit more.
There’s still half a bed sheet waiting for me. I wonder what I can make next… There are still two shirts to be made for this challenge. Not sure a big stripe will work, and I do have some lovely linens left. But now that I’ve uncovered sewing with second hand manchester, I’m feeling the options are endless…
